wednesday night, prime-time eastern. then again at midnight on the fox news channel. martha: should i do my christmas shopping. bill: you've got to watch. martha: i will watch, looks great. buy, everybody, "happening now" starts right now. jenna: we have brand-new stories and breaking news. jon: no let up in the fighting between israel and hamas and the death toll is rising. secretary of state hillary clinton en route to jerusalem in hopes of ending the week-long conflict -fpblt the atheists won that is what a lawyer for a christian group said after a judge upholds the city's decision to bana six-decade tradition of displaying nativity scenes. the emotional reaction from santa monica coming up. it could be twinkie's last hope, a judge sends hostess lenders and the bakers union back to the bargaining table. could 18,000 jobs and the

twinkie be saved? it's all happening now. good morning to you on this tuesday. the u.s. now part of efforts to hammer out a cease-fire in gaza as the fighting intensifies on both sides. good morning i'm jon scott. jenna: hi, everybody i'm jenna lee. air raid sirens wailing in jerusalem. [sirens blaring] jenna: you may hear those sirens, we don't hear them often over jerusalem. this is after hamas fired off a rocket aimed at the holy city. folks on your screen running for cover. word today that that rocket hit the west bank and thankfully didn't cause any injuries. the rocket, just one of the more than 1200 from hamas fired at the jewish state since a week ago. israel is targeting key hamas sites as well firing artillery shells into gaza today and going after rocket and mortar teams all along the border. all of this happening as

president obama dispatched secretary of state hillary clinton to the mideast, in jerusalem, ramallah and gaza. we will start with leland vittert on the israel-gaza border. >> reporter: there are multiple reports from senior israeli officials that there will be a cease-fire deal some time in the next 12 hours. you would think that would mean the firing was waning, just the opposite here in the middle east, everyone wants to get in every last possible shot. you can probably hear the israeli cannons and artillery maneuvering behind me. they've been firing. at the same time hamaz has been firing. there are rockets going towards tel-aviv. the dome intercept ters are going up iers are going up. it's 10:30 in the streets of the city and hundreds of thousands

of people are all but deserted. people only go out for what they absolutely need. the busiest store in town is the local pharmacy here. people don't mind waiting because the doors are double thick blast-proof glass that would protect them if the sirens when off. >> what is it like being on the street do you think about where can i run. >> yes. yes. >> reporter: right now where would you run. >> here. >> reporter: you think you'd be safe there. >> safer. >> reporter: there are some parts of life that have to go on of course like work inside a hospital and for the people who work there, the doctors and nurses it's a terrible choice to make, what do you do with your kids when they are under threat from rockets and still you have to be here treating patients? >> i have three little kids. unfor the in the here they are used to living in this situation. they were born under such kind of life. >> reporter: you'd think in the hours that a cease-fire is in the works the firing would diminish.

the artillery right now is firing into gaza strip on the border there where there are mortar teams firing out, and the artillery shells are the best to try and soften up the grounds either to take care of the mortar teams or in the event they want to push in using tanks and infantry shoulders. all along the gaza strip we are hearing more reports of rocket fire coming out and more israeli air strikes. the death totals inside the gaza strip are rising as well, a little bit more than 120, half of them civilians here in israel. we have had three people dead, and jenna regardless of how the cease-fire negotiatings negotiation which it certainly looks like it's headed in a positive direction it's going to be one more sleepless nights for people on both sides of the border. jenna. jenna: some important context for us leland to watch daily life in israel let's go back to something you've been telling us a lot about, israel potentia potentially preparing for a ground invasion. now we hear about the

cease-fire. describe for us the situation that you're observing on the ground. >> reporter: it's hard to see in the black abyss behind me, this is an armed tank. all around us are tank platoons, infantry getting ready to move into gaza. one of the things they are saying is pushing towards this cease-fire is hamas views the ground invasion as a very credible threat and that is done a lot to get the united states and egypt involved in the negotiations. the media work continues. the israelis have dropped leaflets over the gaza strip saying they are coming and prepared to invade and telling people to move to certain areas. at the same time hamaz is sending out text messages to israeli cell phones, specifically to the ones they think are linked to the army saying we will make gaza your graveyard. the tea leaves will finally be able to be read whenever hour

for the cease-fire comes or we either have one or very shortly there after that ground offensive could start back to you. jenna: leland thank you so much. we'll talk a little bit about trouble we had at the u.s. embassy in tel-aviv today where a israeli man wielding a knife and an action attacked a security guard. they say the guard fired into the air and was only slightly injured. the suspect is now in custody. there are reports he had some mental health problems. police say political motives are not suspected at this time. jon: as we told you at the top of the hour secretary state hillary clinton on her way to the middle east right now to try to help diffuse the bloodshed between israel and gaza strip a. her trip will take her to jerusalem. she will meet there with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. followed by a stop in ra mall louisiana for palestinian poe figureses, and then t

officials, and ten to cairo. >> reporter: even if there is a cease-fire in the hours ahead nobody in the region or at the white house thinks it is a guarantee the cease-fire will hold. this escalating violence over shadowing the president's trip to asia, that's as you note he dispatched secretary of state hillary clinton. she is expected to land in the next few hours. the bottom line is ben rosa top counsel security aid in the white house troflg with th traveling with the president today said there was a clear goal in mind. >> this will under take the engagement with leaders in the region to support deescalation of the violence and a durable outcome that ends the rocket attack in israeli cities and restores broader calm in the

region. >> reporter: it's long known the secretary will be stepping down, that's been her plan all along. this was supposed to be her last trip with president obama overseas, a grueling trip to asia now has been extended by a couple of days as she goes to the mideast very quickly working right down to the wire to try and help solve this situation, jon. jon: obviously, everyone is looking for a cease-fire there. what is the administration saying about the possibility? >> reporter: they are saying, look, whether you call it a cease-fire or deescalation of violence they don't want to get into semantics. they want to see the violence on the ground decrease. we've been hearing prime minister benjamin netanyahu who secretary clinton will be meeting with, he just had a news conference in which he said he's willing to talk about a long term deal but he's also willing to escalate the violence in the short term if he can't get a deal because he needs to protect hits citizens. the egyptian president morsi said a short time ago he is very confident there will be a cease-fire in the next few hours. we'll see,. jon: thank you.

jenna: i'm joined by jack keane former vice chief of staff for the army and a fox news military analyst. good to have you on set with us today. behind the scenes what is happening here. >> president morsi certainly working with our administration is working double speed here to try to bring this to a halt. frankly we've used egypt in the past and it's interesting that morsi muslim brotherhood not the person we'd like to be in char charge of egypt is playing a pivotal role. he does not want to give up his aid that he gets and an annual basis. jenna: you're watching specifically the role of egypt and how this goes down. what does it mean for our national security. >> you can see that the problems in the middle east are certainly continuing. there is a rise of al-qaida and radical islam in the middle east and they are taking advantage of the revolutionary change that is sweeping through the region. they were not the catalysts for

it but they certainly are seeking opportunity and advantage from it. in the shadows here is our number one national security challenge and that is iran. they are certainly behind all the rockets that the hamas have, and they probably encouraged the hamas actually to launch the attack. and we're not going to do any diplomatic efforts with the iranians because we cannot even stop them from advancing their nuclear program so we'd have absolutely no leverage with them here. jenna: let's talk about the military strategy we're seeing from israel and from the terrorists. we continue to see the terrorists back more aggressive, have more powerful weapons and we continue to see this fighting back and forth across the border. why not be more aggressive at this point if you're israel? >> the fact of the matter is it's amazing, you put your finger on it. it. it wasn't too many years ago that hamas was using teenagers and kids with rocks throwing them at israeli soldiers. they have fired 1200 missiles

here, thankfully only 300 of them were close to population centers, but what has been decisive here is the missile defense system that the israelis have. she shot down about 90% of the is missiles that would be endangering their population. that bought them considerable time. jenna: do you think that the iron dome you're talking about, is that a game changer in warfare today, or do you have some concerns about it providing a fall false sense of security with some of the threats to israel and others face. >> there will always be escalation of military technology on each side. missile defense and the degree to which it has advanced where you can shoot down another bullet head ned your direction, that technology is extraordinary in and of itself. what inch certificate sept intercepts is is remarkable.

it's something that we need especially with iran and with china as well. jenna: do we have that here? >> our missile defense is extraordinary. to be frank about it, jenna we do not have enough missile defense, and there is not a program in the budget over the next few years to get to us where we are adequate. jenna: sounds like a good topic for another segment. we keep coming back to iran. this certainly has dominated the news headlines over the last several days about is is rea israel going to war. we are at war in afghanistan right now. we tend to forget about it. can you bring it together for our viewers about how the strategies are related. it seems we've forgotten about afghanistan, that's where our war on terror is. >> there is a strategic objection that the radical islamists have, one is to drive the united states out of the region, so they can establish a

calafat and the second to destroy the state of israel. those two objectives are pre imminent with radical islamists, whether they are sunnies, or shiites. you have to keep your eye on that all the time when you deal with the mideast. jenna: good to have you. we'll talk about iran and the broader strategy in about 20 minutes. jon: one congressman says the talking points in the benghazi situation do not match the classified testimony about what happened the night of that deadly terror attack. a live report on that straight ahead. a startling announcement by police about a deadly explosion that ripped through a names neighborhood. we'll tell you about the new focu napsindian nap list neighborhood. we'll tell you about coming up.

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-p. jon: new developments in the deadly explosion that ripped through a indianapolis neighborhood earlier this month. police announcing the case is now a criminal homicide investigation. the blast killed two people,

destroyed five homes and caused millions of dollars in damage. the announcement comes just after the funerals for a couple who died in the explosion, john and jennifer longworth. eric shawn our new york newsroom. he has the late is. >> reporter: they are horrified and bewildered about what happened. authorities are focusing on a mysterious white van, about 15 years old with no windows. neighbors say that white van was parked for weeks in front of the house that exploded. that blast saturday afternoon, a week and a half ago flattened five homes, damaged 81 others and killed that married couple next door. the owner of the house and her husband are divorced and they had filed for bankruptcy. her ex-husband told police that he received a text message from their 12-year-old daughter saying something was wrong with the furnace in the house and she smelled gas. at the time of the explosion miss shirley was not at home, she was at a casino with a

boyfriend. the daughter was not in the house either. the couple next door were killed. she was a second grade teach store made gifts for her student while her husband was an electronics expert who worked@a home entertainment community. their funeral was yesterday and among the mourners was indianapolis mayor greg ballard. >> i went to a funeral mass. during that mass i was having trouble to myself coming to peace and reconciliation. i could not even imagine what the families are going through if i could not do it. >> reporter: as of now police do note have any suspects or even a motive but they do want to know much more about that white srafpblt. jon van. jon: nothing publicly about suspects. >> reporter: nothing at all. a horrible tragedy especially when you see that damage. jon: an awful case.

thank you. in the next hour we'll be talking about the prosecutor in this case to get the very latest on the evidence and where it all goes from here. jenna: we'll turn to politics, a star in the gop with very frank advice for the party in the wake of governor romney's loss. what the republicans need to do some attract a broad base of voters. brand-new developments in the controversy over that nativity display in 4 santa monica. when a judge just ruled, live at the breaking news desk ahead.

jenna: breaking news in the

conflict between israel and hamas. straight to relan vittert live in israel with more. >> reporter: for the first time we are hearing on the record confirmation this coming from hamas to the reuters news agency that there is a cease-fire deal about to be announced, that cease-fire would take effect at midnight local time, which is just about four and a half hours from now, and that is when hamas says they will stop firing islamic jihad which is also in the gaza strip would stap firing and the israelis would stop their attack. that also means there is no israeli ground attack coming toward gaza. that of course had been the big fear that there would be a massive escalation. so far the death toll inside the gaza strip well over 120 palestinians killed and a number of israelis killed here at least three people. in the past couple of hours we've had a massive barrage of hamas rockets into israel overwhelming the iron dome

missile direct system, direct hits at a number of places and about a dozen people injured so far inside israel in the past couple of hours. you would think in the leading hours to a cease-fire the fire would diminish. in the middle east it's just the opposite in the sense that there is a very heightened amount of firing on both sides as everybody tries to hit their final targets. and so going forward what to watch for is probably an increase in the amount of firing, and then an increase in the diplomatic activity. we know secretary of state hillary clinton is scheduled to meet with the israeli prime minister at 11pm local time. that would be one hour after the cease-fire is set to take effect. we have confirmation from israeli newspapers who are quoting senior israeli officials who are saying there will be a cease-fire. theee skwreupgs are indicating the same thin. and our own reports here say the same. this has been penciled in, it is not yet signed in ink. in the middle east anything can fall apart at any moment.

at this point it looks like we are headed towards a midnight cease-fire, hamas confirming it on the record. think about it this way islamic jihad has said publicly they will keep firing until the very last second. that means everything is possible. all you have to do is have a rocket land somewhere and unfortunately kill a number of people we could be back at this again. right now, jenna that is the path we are heading down to midnight local time for a cease-fire, that is 5:00pm eastern there in new york. jenna: a live picture of gaza city there. leland thank you very much. as he just mentioned to us hamas on the record to reuters news agency, leland pointing out we have yet to hear from the israeli officials on the record about this cease-fire. we'll keep an eye on this fast-moving news. thank you. throughout the next several hours and continue to watch it. jon. jon: election reflection. exactly three we can to the day after voters gave president obama a second term and governor romney crediting the president's win to, quote, extraordinary

financial gifts from government. he says the president gave plenty of such gifts to his base coalition groups. but louisiana governor bobby jindal seems to become away from those comments. take a a listen. >> we as a republican party have to campaign for every single vote. if we want people to like us we have to like them first. jon: joining us now the former chair of the republican party in virginia. and the president and founder of ndn a think tank in washington, he is also a former campaign adviser to president clinton. first of all what do you think about governor romney's assertion that essentially president obama bought himself the election by handing out freebies? >> well, i have to agree with governor jindal that that is not the correct analysis, and what jindal and the other governors, scott walker, bob mcdonald, susana martinez are doing is having this honest reflex about what happened and the governors are the best place for it to start. we have 30 republican governors in the country and they are

looking and saying, hey, wait a minute, we campaigned for this narrow group and tried to just get enough white males, enough married women. we need to start looking at the broad away of the learn electorate because the republican message should resonate with young people, illegal immigrants, women, african-americans. that message of hope and opportunity, the american dream is anybody's who wants it. we need to stop doing what pedestrians has done, which is divide americans, pitting them into groups that are fighting each other, and bring americans together with this hopeful, conservative message. jon: simon you say you've undertaken something like this on the democratic side, and it bore fruit. >> it did. when democrats had won elections for almost 60 years in the united states and ronald reagan and the republicans took power away from the democrats in the 1980s there was an effort on the democratic side to modernize the democratic party to move it away

from things that were no longer working as america changed. i think that's what the republicans will have to do. they were very successful in the latter part of the 20th century. they have to reapply their values, to a new america, a new economy, i want to agree with ka*eufplt you can see some of those leaders out there, bobby jindal and chris christie, and susana martinez, there is a very strong next bench for the republicans that could lead the generational change that is going to happen. it may not be a 20-year process but i don't think it will snap back right away. jon: it seemed to me that governor romney put out a pretty positive campaign talked about, you know, the middle class and trying to restore people. how much of this is -- i don't know, how much of this is the trashing of the romney campaign at the hands of some of the democratic-leaning groups who put out all that advertising?

>> i don't think that's what it is, jon. i think it would be negligent for the current leaders, the grassroots of the party not to look at what went wrong. it shouldn't be driven by paid consultants or by the mainstream media. this is what needs to happen. what went wrong, what they are saying is that mitt romney did not launch a positive, aggressive campaign based on those conservative principles. he was very much on defense, didn't answer a lot of the charges that were thrown at him, and what jindal says is we have to answer every single one of those attacks, but we need to put out that positive message. and the problem is you've got a t- president and a a democrat party that are not doing such a great job bringing that presentation. now they've gone and attack, vilified republican party based on the party. they have to have a vision that is strong enough and bold enough to transend the politics of personal destruction that has been so successful.

jon: there are 30 republican governors in this nation. it is hardly a dead party. >> i agree with that. but i this think it's like a snake shedding a skin. you're seeing a change from an old republican party to a new one. you see some very promising leaders. mitt romney -- where i disagree with kate is that if the democrats won all the big arguments in this election too, i mean you heard republicans saying that barack obama was a failed president, the economy was terrible but yet he won the economic argument. >> he didn't argue economically simon. >>he did. and i can fight this out with you kate but he won the foreign policy argument. the point is. >> he said mitt romney hates certain people. >> the republicans didn't have a strategy. jon: hold on kate. >> kate, come on you got your time. they lost the major arguments for the democrats. it wasn't just about personal destruction. and so the republicans if they are going to be honest they have to win these arguments and have

a better strategy for how to win the politics too. jon: lots of meetings to come over the next four years. thank you both. jenna: keep and eye on what is happening over in israel and the potential news about a cease-fire. in the meantime, brand-new information on the deadly terror attacks that killed four americans in libya. a top congressman making bold charges about conflicting information coming from some of our top intelligence officials. catherine herridge joins us with the latest next. [ malannouncer ] it'that time of year again.

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jon: brand new information now on the consulate terror attack that left four american dead in libya. the head of the house intelligence committee raising some very serious charges over that investigation. congressman mike rogers says new information on who cleared an intelligence memo does not match classified testimony given by top intelligence officials.ef ie correspondent catherine herridge is live in washington with more from us. >> reporter: thank you, jon, and good morning. on thursday the nation's top intelligence official, the director of national intelligence, and his counterparts in the law enforcement and counterterrorism community came to capitol hill and said they didn't know who was responsible for the changes to the cia talking points which critics say minimized the role of terrorists in the attack. now a spokesman for the director of national intelligence says it was the intelligence community that was behind those changes which stripped out language including al-qaeda. this morning lawmakers reacted.

>> we have more questions than answers at this point, and so we do need to understand why these talking points did not present the truth of what we knew at the time. >> reporter: in a statement this morning the head of the house intelligence committee is now demanding an immediate meeting with the director of national intelligence because lawmakers were given a completely different account about what happened last week. chairman rogers looks forward to discussing this new information as soon as possible to understand how the dni, that's director clapper, reached this conclusion and why leaders of the intelligence community testified late last week that they were unaware of who changed the talking points. separately, the ranking member of the senate judiciary committee, chuck grassley n a letter to the attorney general and the fbi director is asking for a detailed briefing before the end of next week on the legal authorities obtained to monitor the former cia director's e-mail by the fbi as well as the legal analysis that

allowed them to conclude that they did not need to notify congress, nor the white house of this ongoing investigation with national security implications, jon. jon: katherineer ridge in washington, thank you. jenna: now we turn to afghanistan where nearly 70,000 u.s. troops continue to fight today. afghan president hamid karzai is accusing the u.s. of violating an agreement on transferring detainees. this comes as leaders in kabul oppose offering immunity to american forces after that 2014 withdrawal deadline. this is a key sticking point in negotiations with the u.s., and we saw a similar debate emerge as we were withdrawing or drawing down in iraq. conor powell is live in kabul with more. >> reporter: well, jenna, this is just the latest in a long line of disputes between president karzai and american officials. in march the united states signed an agreement to hand over all afghan prisoners in american custody in the bagram detention facility just outside kabul within six months, and yesterday

president karzai announced that the united states has failed to live up to that agreement, and he directed afghan security forces to enforce that agreement. he didn't say how they should, but he is seriously trying to push the american government into handing over all afghan detainees. now, american officials have simply said privately that they think the afghan government is in violation to have agreement, because when u.s. forces hand over afghan prisoners, they say the afghan government just res them even if they are known members of the taliban, insurgent fighters or even bomb makers. so there's disagreement about what actually needs to happen for this agreement to work. but this all comes as the united states and the afghan government are beginning this negotiation over a long-term, strategic agreement. by the end of 2014, all u.s. combat troops are going to be out of afghanistan, but the united states and the international community want to have some u.s. troops here for counterterrorism missions and to help train the afghan government.

now, president karzai many analysts believe is simply using this agreement, or the disagreement over this prison detainee agreement as sort of leverage in this larger strategic agreement and the negotiations. but he is seriously putting in jeopardy a long-term agreement here in afghanistan because he also wants to remove the immunity that u.s. troops have post-2014. u.s. officials say that if u.s. troops stay in afghanistan, they will have immunity, and if president karzai disagrees, he ought to just look at what happened in iraq when u.s. troops pulled out, because the iraq and afghan governments could not reach an agreement on immunity. jenna in. jenna: connor paul, thank you. jon: and right now another story we've been watching on "happening now," new developments in the controversy over a nativity display in california. we told you about it yesterday. a federal judge ruling against churches in santa monica saying the nativity scene cannot be displayed as it has been for the

past 60 years. rick folbaum has more on that. >> reporter: well, jon, the judge says that she made her ruling allowing this ban because of the city's decision which affects all people equally, christians, jews and atheists alike. santa monica's palisades park, it hosted a giant nativity scene since 1953, a decision that went on without controversy until a few years ago when an atheist put up an anti-religious display. then the man got others to apply to the city for display permits, all of them for made-up causes, and eventually the city says it was inundated with permit requests which is why the decision was made to ban all of them, period. christian groups sued, and that's what led to the judge's decision upholding that ban. here are attorneys from both sides. >> we are, obviously, very pleased with the court's

decision. it is a decision that we believe fully comports with existing constitutional law. >> the court made the point that we still have the right to present nativity scenes on private property. the court should tell the secular people, the atheists, that they can take their free speech and move it to private property too. >> reporter: the christian group, jon, is promising an appeal. back to you. jon: and the battle goes on. rick folbaum, thanks. jenna: as the clock ticks toward the so-called fiscal cliff, we're getting new details about the possible compromise. who will see higher taxes? we're going to have more only coming up. plus, new information on how terrorists are getting their hands on the arsenal of weapons used against israel, how those rockets are being smuggled into gaza, and why the supply route poses a crucial new partnership forem the war on terror. call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert

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jenna: well, new signs of rockets raining down on israel only hue light a broad --

highlight a broader strategy iran is using to ignite terror, and crucial to this strategy is the african nation of sudan. in fact, only a few days before the latest conflicts started, a raid hit a tate-owned weapons factory near the capital of sudan where allegedly iranian weapons were being stored. we're going to show you satellite images of that, the before and after images. israel is refusing to comment on whether it's responsible for the strikes. security analysts say the supply chain goes as follows: iran is shipping weapons to sudan, sudan is smuggling those weapons to hamas and other militant groups in gaza, and those groups fire those weapons on israel. but there's more ahead. our next guest says sudan is the linchpin in iran's new global strategy. j. peter fromm is the director of the africa program at the atlantic council. peter, why sudan? >> well, sudan is strategically located geographically. it's on the red sea, it's, it

provides easy access to the middle east and to africa, and it's also a state that has over the years a reputation, well earned, for torting terrorist groups -- supports terrorist groups. it's on the state sponsor or terror list for the u.s., it gave shelter to osama bin laden in the late '80s, early 1990s. and it's a state that's been willing in the past to iranian weapons smugglers and manufacturers. jenna: according to your research, though, what iran's doing is creating a web, if you will, of different networks in africa, and using sudan really as a launch pad, if you will, or the central area? why are they doing this? why are they turning towards africa? >> well, several reasons. africa, with its 54 independent countries, is the largest single bloc at the united nations and other international bodies which iran needs for political cover for its human rights abuses as well as its nuclear proliferation. secondly, it's strategically

located. iran has threatened to close off oil shipments through the strait of hormuz in the case that it's attacked. well, one way to get around that is to ship oil through saudi ports in the red sea. reaching out to sudan and eritrea, iran can now operate in those areas and block shipmentings of oil in the red sea if it chooses to do so. and then finally, of course, as you mentioned earlier, it's easy access to getting the rockets up to hamas. jenna: let's take a look at that map again, the map where sudan is so we have an idea of kind of where we're talking in the region. you see egypt is a major block that separates sudan from gaza. how much of an impact is egypt, and how much of an impact is it to israel and some of the smuggle routes to gaza? >> well, what we're seeing is that over the last few years and more recently egypt has either

chosen to turn the other way or is actually condoning the shipment by smugglers of weapons that come either, are manufactured in sudan are come through port sudan, the main port on the red sea. they move up through egypt, then move over to sinai which is very poorly policed, hand it over to smugglers there who bring it in tunnels into gaza, and from there we see it rain down on israeli civilian populations. jenna: hundreds of those smuggling tunnels. what are we doing in what is the united states doing when it comes to sudan and some of this strategy that we see iran putting into effect? >> well, we're in a difficult position. on one hand iran is -- sudan is on the u.s. state sponsor of terror list. on the other hand, we need it as or have been trying to use it as a negotiating partner to try to relieve some of the tensions with south sudan, a state whose independence we supported. so as a result, our policy's a little mixed. and as a result of that, sudan

tends the get a free pass. in fact, we've not really commented on the bombing of the arms factory which was clearly manufacturing far more weapons than sudan had a legitimate need for. jenna: do you think we need to be stronger? >> i think we need to be aware that our silence is taken often as tacit approval, and these countries are gathering these weapons, and the destruction and the conflict that causes further complications in the middle east have their origins in places that we don't necessarily always link at fist sight to the -- first sight to the middle east, places like sudan. so, if you will, those peripheral actions need to be place inside a greater context. jenna: it bears another conversation, peter, as always. we look forward to having you back. >> thank you very much, jenna. jon: all right. are you one of those people who shelled out hundreds of dollars on ebay for twinkies and

hostess pies because the company says it was closing down? well, it might have been in vain. new hope for hostess, that story in three minutes. raise theoof! no one says that anymore, mom. [ shopper ] raise the roof! ahh! raise the roof!! [ malannouncer ] bla friday's back. savings start thursday at 8 pm. with electronics starting at 10 pm. the first and only place to go this black friday. walmart.

jon: just in to the fox newsroom and, parents, if you have any young sesame street fans in the room, this might be a good time to find the mute button. kevin clash, who is the creator of one of sesame street's most popular characters, elmo, has resigned. this after h accused by another man of having a sexual encounter with that man when the man was only 16 years old. now, the man later on went on to recant his original accusation, however, a second man stepped forward and made similar accusations. sesame workshop says the

controversy has been a distraction that none of us want. here is their quote. they say: setmy workshop's omission is to hardness the educational power of media to help all children the world over reach their highest potential. kevin clash has helped us achieve that mission for 28 years. none of us, especially kevin, want anything to divert our attention from our focus on serving as a leading educational organization. that is how they announced that kevin clash who created elmo and provided his voice will be leaving that program. presumably, the character lives on with a slightly different voice. but kevin clash, who is the creator of one of sesame street's most popular characters, resigning his position. jenna: new hope for hostess, the maker of so many treats like twinkies, for example. new reports today that hostess and the union they've been trying to negotiate with are coming to an agreement, and that could save the company, also save thousands of jobs. so important during this

economy. rick folbaum is following this development. >> reporter: junk food lovers rejoice, jenna, because all sides have agreed to private mediation as a way to possibly keep the company from going under. hostess followed through on a threat to shut down last week if striking workers didn't come back to their jobs. the strike was over a plan to slash wages and benefits at a time when hostess' executives were actually getting major pay raises. the mediation was recommended by a federal judge who said he was stepping in mainly because 18,500 jobs are at stake. no word on whether a deal will be strike -- struck, rather, but everyone is hopeful. so all those folks who stocked up on twig keys and ho-hoes, that stuff keeps for a very long time, so you don't need to go out there and eat it right away. if you shelled out hundreds of dollars on ebay hoping to buy a collector's item, your gamble will be half baked to say

the least. we'll keep you posted. [laughter] jenna: rick, thank you. jon: homes on staten island ravaged by superstorm sandy are ready for demolition, and while there is talk of rebuilding, some are wondering if it's such a good idea. live with more on that controversy. plus, reports of ceasefire in gaza on a day the fighting intensified with israel gearing up for more strikes amid the barrage of hamas rockets raining down on the jewish state. sec tower of state hillary clinton now heading for the rooj. live fox team coverage of all the breaking developments next.

>> reporter: hi, everybody, rick folbaum in the control room. here are some of the stories we're working on just for you. of course, more on the violence in the middle east as hillary clinton gets set to head to the region. there are reports of a possible ceasefire later on today, we'll talk to the former israeli ambassador to the united nations about what lies ahead. also, a new twist in the case of that house explosion out

in indianapolis about a week and a half or so ago. they're now treating it as a murder scene, we'll talk to the lead prosecutor in that case. and this young girl right here is the victim of a horrible hoax last year where a man broke into her house, tied what he said was a bomb around her neck. the bomb was a fake, but his punishment is real, and we'll tell you what it is. the second hour of "happening now" starts right now. ♪ jon: a possible ceasefire just hours away now, or so we hope, as the obama administration jumps into the middle east dispatching america's top diplomat to the region. welcome to the second hour of "happening now," i'm jon scott. jenna: and looking over at the wise, reuters are saying egyptian officials say the gaza truce talks continue, but their hopeful. that's the way we have to peg some of this news -- jon: let's hope that's a good sign. jenna: hi, everybody, i'm jenna lee, and egypt announces that

hamas has agreed to a ceasefire starting just a few hours from now at midnight local time. obviously, they're still trying to work out things. we don't have anything official yet. washington is hoping for an agreement that will protect israel's security and also allow for regional stability. secretary of state hillary clinton is expected to arrive

>> reporter: and from the egyptian side that hamas had agreed to a ceasefire which would come into effect in about five hours' time. most likely they're going to try and wait until secretary of state hillary clinton arrives. she is enroute. it was a hasty departure from her last overseas trip with president obama. she cut short her visit to asia. it's ironic that the secretary of state, hillary clinton, on one of her last trips overseas will be drawn back into the middle east conflict. you'll remember that when her husband was president, it was the last thing he tried to do. he tried to broker that middle east peace that was so unattainable for him at the end of his presidency. she will be making three stops, she will stop first in israel. she has not arrived there yet. she will meet with prime minister benjamin netanyahu, then he will go to ramallah, but

the leadership she's meeting there are members of the fatah party, not hamas. hamas is based in gaza. then she will travel to egypt to meet with president muhammad morsi and the egyptian delegation that's trying to broker this agreement, jenna. jenna: jennifer, as we continue to watch the players here, how seriously is the white house taking this escalation, how seriously are they taking the potential for a ceasefire? >> reporter: well, it's very clear that they're taking it very seriously and that they would like to prevent a ground war, a ground incursion. you have 30,000 israeli troops on the border with gaza prepared to go in the rocket fire does not stop, and i think what you're seeing is an all, full-court press by the president and the white house and the administration the halt that ground invasion. the president, president obama, has made three calls in the last 24 hours to the egyptian president, muhammad morsi. he's praised the egyptian efforts to try and get a

ceasefire. here is the national security spokesman and adviser, ben rhodes. >> when our bottom line is an end to rocket fire, we're open to any number of ideas for achieving that goal. we've discussed any number of ideas for accomplishing that goal, but it's going to have to begin with the reduction of tensions, you know, space created for the situation to calm. so we'll be discussing going forward as we have been over the last several days what are the various ways in which we can accomplish this goal. >> reporter: again, ben rhodes spoke about the need for a durable outcome from the israeli perspective, that means not only stopping the current rocket fire, but stopping the weapons smuggling that's been coming through those tunnels from egypt into the gaza strip. that's something that egypt can help with, and that is something that israel does not want to stop short of ending the smuggling of those longer-range rockets that are assembled with

components from iran. and then the pal the tin grabs would like -- palestinians would like some sort of opening so that they since 2007, in essence, since hamas took over the gaza strip, they have not had free passage in and out of the gaza strip. it's unlikely they're going to gain much of that passage, but clearly both sides are going to wait, and most likely we won't see a deal with secretary of state hillary clinton is on the ground in some way. jenna: jennifer, thank you so much. jennifer griffin, live from the state department today. we're going to be talking to israel's former u.n. ambassador dan gillerman about the prospects for peace. a big story we're watching for you today on "happening now." jon: right now, avoiding the fiscal cliff. it's due to arrive january 1st. we've been hearing rumblings on the hill about a possible framework for some kind of agreement, but what can we expect in the fine print? what will be cut? will anyone see a higher tax

bill? chief congressional correspondent mike emanuel is reading some of the tea leaves in washington. >> reporter: hi, jon, yeah. the fiscal cliff includes those automatic cuts known as sequestration that were part of last year's debt deal to domestic and defense spending. lawmakers must find where else to slash spending. >> we're looking at redundancies throughout government. i think there's many ways to look at can you do it more effectively, efficiently, and basically eliminate some of this redundancy that goes on. i've asked people before how many places do you go for the same service, they might tell me two, three or four. that's ridiculous. >> reporter: some republicans like the idea of cutting individual programs that are not efficient or the country cannot afford, but they say getting a handle on the nation's $16 trillion plus debt requires going after the big stuffer. >> what's driving our spending is entitlements. it's just so obvious. and what makes us noncompetitive is the tax code that is just

hopeless. we've got to fix these things if we are, if we have any hope of this economy improving over the long term. >> taking on the tax cold and entitlements will be a longer-term challenge. experts say both sides need a show of good faith now in negotiations to avoid the fiscal cliff. >> the scenario i would prefer -- and it's eminently doable -- is if they can reach an agreement on replacing especially the defense spending cuts, perhaps do something on taxes that makes everyone happy, although i prefer not to see tax increases. >> reporter: the budget expert says rather than raising taxes on the wealthy, cut their benefits. in other words, perhaps you reduce the medicare a wealthy person receives. jon? jon: mike emanuel in washington, thank you. so for more on the fiscal cliff politics if and when we can expect to see some kind of deal, let's bring in ab stoddard, operate editor and columnist for "the hill."

this was all supposed to be so ludicrous that no congress, no president would let it happen, and here it is about to happen. are you an optimist, ab? >> well, i think i'm beginning to be an optimist, but i'm reserving the right to change my mind. [laughter] we're not going to see a deal as we have been saying until after thanksgiving, and i think we're going to see it much closer to christmas eve. they always put things off to the last minute. and the fights and posturing you're seeing broiling between the two parties are really about numbers that no one's put on paper. so the real, you know, rubber meets the road moments are not going to come deep until, you know, almost late december. jon: well, president obama campaigned on a platform of saying, you know, the rich can pay more. so should anybody who earns more than, say, any couple earning more than $250,000, should they expect that their taxes are about to go up? >> well, there is talk about increased revenue versus a raise in rates, and that's the big

struggle that's going on right now. the president is trying to communicate to the republican party that he's open to finding enough revenue to not have to raise rates if they can do it. he says it's impossible, show me the path. they're willing to go after taxes in other ways in capping their deductions that they enjoy, perhaps touching eligibility age for certain earners for medicare, whatever, going after the people that obama says need to pay without actually raising the rates. that's, again, an interesting argument. we just can't really gauge where it's going and handicap where it's going to land until people start putting pen to paper which both sides are still refusing to do. and the reason is republicans can't believe that they find themselves two weeks taffe election being forced -- after the election being forced in a corner about revenue when they are looking at democrats who haven't put forth any spending cuts to exchange the sequester cuts for new ones.

so republicans don't want to give until they see that there the other side. jon: and the democratic-led senate hasn't even produced a budget in, what, three years. meantime, the president wants to apparently claim a trillion dollars in savings from ending the wars in iraq and afghanistan, and yet he's throughout the campaign season has said -- he blamed president bush for putting those on a credit card. so how do you put them on a credit card to start the war and get the savings from them on the back end? >> you know, that's phony federal government math, and i'm not a man of -- not a fan of it. both parties have agreed in the past to use that money and pretend it was a savings. i think it was even part of the final agreement in july of 2011 that a blew up, in what was supposed to be our great grand bargain that never came to pass. that's been a bipartisan goody in the cookie jar that isn't actually legitimate savings, but both parties have leaned on it.

jon: phony federal government math, i'll be bringing that back. ab stoddard, thanks. jenna: big week, of course, with thanksgiving, but we can't forget about black friday as well, and apparently there's fallout already. workers from a big box retailer saying they might not show up for work on the busiest shopping day of the year. where this is and why they're upset. plus, a dramatic twist in a deadly explosion that shook an entire neighborhood. what police think may have happened that still has residents on edge. >> when the house was shaking, i was walking down the stairs, looked out the window and saw fire. i ran out, and it was four houses down from my house. the house was completely flat. are you receiving a payout from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert a lump sum of cash today.

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jon: some dramatic new pictures out of idaho where a street renovation project erupted in flames after a gas line was ruptured. lewiston fire officials say one

of the contractors was digging with backhoe when he came in contact with a 4-inch gas line, the flames damaging a nearby ware oust and some equipment. luckily, no one was husband. jenna: well, a shocking twist in another blast that killed two people and leveled an entire indianapolis neighborhood earlier this month. authorities now believe the house explosion was caused intentionally and are now treating it as a murder investigation. listen. >> we are turning this into a criminal homicide investigation, and we're working with our partners from the atf, from indianapolis fire department, indianapolis metropolitan police department, the marion county prosecutor's office and many other state and local agencies. >> we probably have every house in this neighborhood with some type of structural damage. it splintered my door. i had to get out, and it looked like a war zone. jenna: one of the most unbelievable scenes we've really seen in a long time. on the phone with us now from indianapolis is marion county

prosecutor terry curry who's responsible for this investigation. terry, why do you believe this is a homicide? >> well, based upon the initial investigation of the explosion by the combined local arson investigators and federal atf investigators, um, after a period of time all accidental causes were ruled out, and the consequence in addition to the fire investigation we've had a parallel criminal investigation ongoing since virtually day one. jenna: what is the source of this explosion? >> i can't speak to that at this time. we have a pretty good idea, but all aspects of the investigation are continuing, and i really can't speak to that at this time. jenna: and we certainly understand that. two people were murdered here, jennifer and john longworth. do you believe they were target of this explosion? >> at this time we have no reason to believe that there was an intentional targeting of

anyone. jenna: there's also two other names that have come up,, mark leonard, apparently that was the house where the explosion was centered, and they were not home at this time. how are they involved in the investigation? >> i can't speak to that other than what you've stated is accurate, which is that they were residing in the home which was the source of the the explosion. jenna: one of the other things that has been brought up at least in local reports is a white van, a search for a white van in the area, in the neighborhood. apparently, we've heard reports it's been impounded, it's been searched, can you tell us anything about what role this white van may play in this? >> obviously, we had reason to believe that there was a vehicle matching that description in the neighborhood at a relevant time, beyond that i can't speak to anything else related to that. other than what we have done which is ask for any input from the public who might have seen a

vehicle matching that description. jenna: how concerned should the public be, especially in this neighborhood, for their own safety? >> well, at this time there's no reason to believe there's any continuing concern or danger. as we said, we have certainly ruled out any accidental cause, so there's no reason to have any continuing concern. jenna: terry, you've been most generous with your time. thank you so much. >> thank you. jenna: rod wheeler is joining us now. of course, he looks into things like this as a former homicide detective, rod, a fox news contributor now, what do you think? >> you know, this was obviously a targeted attack, jenna, and the reason i think that terry, the prosecutor, could not really elaborate is because whoever did this horrific act is still out there somewhere, and they're trying to figure out now exactly why did this person, what was the motive behind what they did, and how was it that they were able to pull off this explosion probably using natural gas, natural gas lines that come into that home? that's what it appears to me right now.

jenna: because you don't normally see explosions like this. when you see crimes and if they're intentionally set, we have to show some of that video we have of this exnotion the neighborhood because it's just over the top. >> well, it is. jenna: based on that, rod, where would you begin? >> that's an excellent question, jenna. real quickly here, with a natural gas explosion which the fire department thought it was initially, it's going to be pretty much centered around just that home. however, with this particular explosion not only did the house explode, but it started subsequent fires afterward which made the police and investigators start thinking maybe somebody had planned this. so they're interviewing anyone and everyone associated with that home, including the two individuals that were away from that home. and it appears to me that the two victims we had, jenna, i think they were just the collateral victims of whatever was going on inside the home and which was next to the house in which they lived. jenna: so sad, such a young couple that, as we mentioned,

murdered in this incident. what does it say to you that atf is involved? >> well, that's another excellent question. first of all, atf typically does get involved mainly because they are the experts when it comes to fires and explosions. so they're working along with the police department in that area, the arson investigators in that area, and i don't think the fbi is quite involved yet, but i wouldn't be surprised if they did get -- jenna: and what would be that tipping point, for the fbi to suddenly get involved here? >> well, if the individual responsible for this explosion used certain types of chemicals, trust me, the fbi wants to know about that. because we have to start looking at other types of explosions as well. how did these people get that knowledge, where did they get this material and whether or not they went across state lines. jenna: frightening case. thanks for the time. a story we're going to continue to watch. hopefully, they so this mystery. thank you. >> thank you, jenna. jon: that is a strange one. a countdown to the possible fiscal cliff.

up next, a closer look at the hidden costs if congress and the president cannot reach a deal. plus, this black friday a potential strike looming at the biggest retailer in america. how walmart is fighting back.

jenna: well, right now black friday fallout, and it's only tuesday, right? what day is it today? tuesday. disgruntled walmart workers threatening to walk out on the busiest shopping today of the year. rick has more on this drama. >> reporter: can you imagine? friday, this friday, typically the busiest shopping day of the year, and now some walmart workers are thinking about using the occasion to try to make a point. they're considering a strike because they say they're not happy with their pay, they don't like their health insurance, and they also don't like the fact that they have to work on thanksgiving. a lot of retailers have store

hours on the holiday, walmart one of them. they plan to open their doors at 8 p.m. there are shoppers on both sides of this. >> i think that's wrong that they have to work on thanksgiving. um, you know, people were going to be home with their families anyways. >> they shouldn't be striking and complaining about your job. you should be lucky you have a job. >> walmart says the vast majority of its employees are happy with their job and that even if that small group of workers do end up striking, it's such a small group the customers, they say, jenna, wouldn't even notice it. so we'll see what happens. jenna: all right, rick, thank you. jon: well, we hear a lot about the fiscal cliff these days but some taxes are going up no matter what happens or doesn't happen. chief national correspondent jim angle on what may be the middle part of the fiscal cliff. jim? >> reporter: you got it right. there are two key dates in the next year in health care implementation. starting january 1st, obamacare will raise taxes for health care

an additional $318 billion over ten years including a new 3.8% tax on investment income, plus many reduced deductions for those of all incomes. those affected most will be small businesses, many of which pay taxes at the individual rate and get a double whammy with the simultaneous end of bush tax cuts and tax increases under obamacare, almost a 60% increase in taxes on investments. listen. >> entrepreneurs with small businesses or a certain number of workers, now they're going to be facing a four, five, ten percentage increase on their tax liabilities. that just means they're going to have less income to invest in their firm. >> for some small businesses, it could be a bit of a hardship. for other maul businesses, they're just going to go on doing what they're doing. >> reporter: now, in fact, it must be much cheaper for small businesses to pay a $2,000 fine to not offer insurance and let their employees go on the

taxpayer subsidized exchanges instead which are supposed to be ready in october 2013. those new obamacare taxes will be major source of money for rather generous taxpayer subsidies. listen. >> the subsidies are going to be, you know, depending on your income 10, 12, $15,000 which is a lot of taxpayer support. >> reporter: and a huge expense for taxiers. -- taxpayers. many businesses may have to renew coverage before then. >> some of them are going to have renewals in the spring, some will be in the summer, some in the fall. so the clock is ticking down. >> reporter: now, this is a giant experiment in both health care and federal finances and even supporters, jon, still aren't sure how it's going to work out. jon? jon: this is all part of passing the bill before we find out what's in it. >> reporter: that's what happens, exactly. jon: oh, boy. thanks for that, thanks for that

preview, jim. [laughter] >> reporter: thanks. jenna: police rounding up dozens of innocent drivers and their passengers at gunpoint, even handcuffing some of them in order to find a bank robber. we're going to find out what our legal panel has to say about this and their constitutional rights. plus, the latest on new efforts to calm the violence in the middle east as we wait to find out if there is, indeed, a ceasefire. we're going to talk to israel's former u.n. ambassador about hamas and the possibility of long-term peace next.

speech you the leader of hamas is a cease-fire will get underway within an hour. they are the terrorist group speaking to reuters news agency on this. a spokesman for benjamin netanyahu says we are not there yet. israel remains concerned about a long-term solution. especially considering the indiscriminate tactics used by hamas and other groups. >> they do not share are concerned about civilian casualties at all. they are deliberately and indiscriminately targeting our citizens, and they have deliberately been hiding behind their civilians. they use their own children as human shields.

jenna: ambassador dan tillerman joins us now. great to have you in new york. >> it's great to be here for you jenna: let's talk about the cease-fire that we are hearing about. how reliable is a cease-fire build upon this relationship with this new president in egypt? to well, that is a very big question mark. president mohammed morsi is the leader of the muslim brotherhood who has very close ties to hamas and to other terror organizations. on the other hand, i do believe that egypt needs some kind of deal. they need to show that it is leading the arab world again and they need to regain the arab world. what we have actually seen today is iran trying to take over the arab and muslim world. we have seen a fight for

supremacy in the muslim world between turkey and iran. what we have now is several parties, including the united states, egypt and turkey. very eager to broker a deal that will shoulder their control. the big question is whether anybody can control hamas, which as you said, is a terror organization that is brutal and evil and intent upon killing civilians. i don't think we can trust them. jenna: with all due to your respect and diplomacy, i would like to ask you a diplomatic question. something that we face in the united states as well. peace negotiations being what they are, terrorists continue to grow stronger and have powerful weapons. they continue to desire to kill israelis. why not be more aggressive at this point? >> well, it's a question that many are asking. there is great understanding and

admiration for the restraint which israel has shown. no other country in the world, no country would stand for one minute for what we have taken over the years in our cities and villages, being shelled by thousands of rockets. having in the gardens and schools being targeted. children getting used to the sound of sirens and living in air shelters and ongoing school. at the end, we just decided that enough was enough. we handled this with great caution and great precision. with trying to avoid civilian casualties. at the end of the day we are judged and rightly so on a totally different moral standard. a much higher ground. for us, every dead palestinian charge. for hamas, it is a cause for celebration. that distinction is there and the reason we are not more aggressive is because if we are,

we will kill civilians and we are doing everything we can, even at the high cost to avoid doing that. jenna: between these two groups and the israeli government and the terrorist organization, have you ever achieved peace? >> welcome i think the only way we can achieve peace is by first eliminating both the capability and the will of hamas ever doing something like that again. because of that, just the cease-fire is not enough. putting it to sleep is not enough. because this snake will raise its ugly head again. we cannot afford to let that happen again. jenna: if it's not more aggression or more cease-fire, mortal kombat, if he will come and we are not at that stage, how do you combat the ideology you're talking about, deeply rooted against israel and its people? >> the only way to combat that

ideology is by proving to the palestinians and to the moderate arabs that they are far better off living in peace, raising their children to be educated rather than to become suicide bombers. and we have a reality with the palestinian authority where lives in other cities are far better. they are thriving. they are economically doing well. gaza has become the world's largest prison with hamas holding its own citizens. hostages, making families live over missiles. this is one of the reasons there are missiles there, because many of them are in private homes. don't be surprised if you don't wake up in the morning. we are very careful not to hurt civilians for the only solution is for the modern arab world to realize that the real threat to them is islamic fundamentalism and extremism and that they

should actually see israel as an ally. in the line with us, a former coalition of the moderates, which will then be able to stand against the real threat, which is iran. one thing people don't understand and maybe don't realize is that behind that terror organization and that snake, there is iran. jenna: some have suggested that israel and be more aggressive this time around, the rockets from hamas, they are setting the stage to make sure that those rockets in the gaza strip are not there when israel becomes more aggressive. is that the case? >> we are trying and hoping to destroy those weapons because we want to put that right away. we are doing it through this incredible israeli technology of an iron dome, which intercepts them. we will deal with iran when the time comes. and when we do, it will be effective and it will be swift

and it will be very, i think, very successful. we still hope that diplomacy will work. we hope the united states and the international community will lead it. if they don't, we will. when we do, it will be a far safer reality is those rogue organizations and terror regimes, both in the south and in the form of hezbollah, are not capable of what they have been doing over the last two years. jenna: a big day. ambassador, it's wonderful to have have you. thank you and happy thanksgiving jon: a check now on some markets. the goal is a correspondent for the fox business network and she is on the floor of the new york stock exchange. >> the dow and nasdaq all lower. the dow jones down 15 points. it always remains a wildcard

here on wall street, whether there is unrest or tensions there. that is something that will factor in. now that we have heard about the cease-fire, we are seeing oil selling off as we get a little bit of relief there. names on wall street on the move. $8.8 billion, an acquisition last year. this is a software company that they acquired last year. now, they are claiming fraud thing that the financials were not clear to them. as a result, hewlett-packard is down 11%. lows that we haven't seen since 2002. we have some good news in housing. new homes and that, for the month of october, moved to the highest level in four years. that is moving along. on doing better. don't forget names like home depot and lowe's, which are directly correlated to a housing recovery. plus, the rebuilding after

hurricane sandy here on the eastern seaboard. a couple of those things, certainly helping stocks along. last but not least, looking at best buy, the electronics retailer, that is down over 11% today as the profit is coming below. it turns out that people are not as interested in television and notebook computers and they are coming in with the failed estimates. it down over 11% and hitting new lows. those are some of the stocks here on wall street. just maybe, we have had four weeks of selling for the dow jones, back to you. jon: that would be good. thank you. well, new york city is set to demolish several homes on staten island. they were damaged during superstorm sandy. should they be rebuilt. it turns out this area is a flood zone.i have oblations. cu you'll get your live report on this controversy coming up.

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jon: right now a legal case pitting the rights of innocent civilians. this was sparked by eight bank robbery in aurora, colorado. police, in their case, tracking a gps device that was passed in the stolen money. here is where the controversy begins. they only had the famous description of the getaway car and the suspect. so police wound up training their weapons on nearly two dozen cars at an intersection where the signal said that the gps device was stopped. the cops ordered all of the drivers and passengers out of their cars. some folks were slapping handcuffs before the cops from the perpetrator in the stolen cash. >> did they actually take you out of your car? >> just come and they didn't come until figured out who did what. >> investigative detentions are lawful for a reasonable period of time. jon: is this an abuse of police power? or is it necessary in this age of gps tracking devices?

lis wiehl is with us. also doug burns, the former prosecutor and now a criminal defense attorney. apparently, first of all, this guy was a customer of the bank. he goes back, according to police and prosecutors come he goes back and robs the place. >> $26,000. >> that's right,. jon: he puts a gps tracking device in it but it's not very precise. >> that's right. >> the cops stop all of the cars in the intersection and they say nobody moves until we figure out who has the money but one thing you are forgetting is that he had two loaded firearms. this is a man who had just robbed a bank with firearms. so the cops did what they had to do. what else could they do? let him go? let an armed bandit go? no, they had to do it.

jon: doug, you don't like what the police did? >> i do not. there is another option, which is a little bit of trivia point. the gps went to 30 to be. they have a beacon attracts unified view. what happened was, i looked a little bit after court subpoena were the judge basically told you what happened, the fact of the matter is the fbi was bringing in this beacon and it didn't get there until an hour later. >> they were a little late, but they were working on it. jon: are you saying they should have waited? >> and let the bank robber go free? that's exactly what you're saying. >> the problem is warmly when they do a robot, they are allowed to stop everybody. they come over very calm and end of story, they don't make you get out of sync with your hands

up, don't know, and they certainly don't handcuff you. it doesn't take two hours. jon: so the viewers know, some of what happened, one little girl wet herself in her car seat waiting for the two-hour ordeal to deal with and one woman had to put her foot on the rate brake for two hours because the cops would not let her take her hand off of the wheel to put her car in park or the suspect's lawyers are appealing. and they want the evidence that was found in his car as a result thrown out, including a wig and some other masks and the gun. >> in a way that'll happen. the defendant, he just robbed a bank. he has no standing objected to

this. jon: so despite that, you think it will be upheld? >> everyone needs to understand that why would you let the criminal go free? they are the unintended beneficiary. some people say punish the police and convict them. jon: it is quite a wild case. but they have upheld lecompte said. thank you both so much. jenna: an update in a bizarre story. we first or -- we first told you about this last year. a bomb and a huge plot to get money from wealthy parents. now we have a verdict in the case, and that is coming up next ahead. list'sll done. raise the ro!!

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jon: a sentence in a story that grabbed international headlines last year. a teenager forced to wear would

turn to be a crazy situation. he says he's going to tie a bomb around her neck, an attempt to extort money from her wealthy parents. now the man is facing 15.5 years in prison. >> i realized that it will take time for him to take credit. but today was important because now it relates to this.

jon: paul peters is the man. he attached the bomb to madeleine. he used an e-mail address that he had left on the ransom note and was caught in kentucky about two weeks later, and extradited back to australia and he pleaded guilty back in march. back to you. what a bizarre story. jenna: new york city is getting ready to demolish hundreds of homes in staten island damaged by hurricane sandy. how that rebuilding should be done is a big question. rick leventhal is live with more. reporter: the questions are which homes will be torn down. and if they should be rebuilt. and if so, how they should be rebuilt. the city says it will tell tear down at least 200 homes in the next few weeks. maybe hundreds more. but they won't say which ones. houses like this that were knocked off their foundations are very likely to be raised. if you look at this house next

door, it is one of at least 900 that had these red stickers declaring it unsafe. that does not mean that it will be torn down. in the meantime, neighborhoods like this one here have a lot of people wondering if it should be rebuilt. six months to a year, to study the area, the topography and damage to the beaches and whether or not these homes could survive. should they be made of brick or built on stilts, should they move the electorate up to a higher floor. all these of these things being considered and residents have a lot of questions. >> what will sustain us? sheetrock will not sustain us. what kind of foundations do we need a map would we need to do so that we are hit again, anywhere close to this, the homes will be able to sustain a? >> it has to be bigger and stronger than before. jon: bigger and stronger. that is what we have heard time

and time again. people want to stay and rebuild. jenna: so many families not being able to go home this thanksgiving. we remember them as we continue to watch this process after hurricane sandy. thank you so much. great reporting as always. we will be right back with more "happening now." oh no, not a migraine now.

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at pharmacies and retail locations like these. ♪ don't wait. let's get you on the right path. call today to enroll in a plan from unitedhealthcare, like aarp medicarecomplete. jon: is it possible for a simple farmer from china to produce tastier pigs and poor? is training his pigs to dive into a lake. they then -- there it is. these athletic porkers make a splash at least three times a day. the farmer claims that the diving exercise makes them leaner and healthier and tastier and raises their value. it also has become a tourist attraction. they are flocking to the bed and breakfast hotel that he